It’s winter, the nights are dark and freezing, and a series of seemingly random assaults is pulling DI Marnie Rome and DS Noah Jake out onto streets of London. When Marnie’s family home is ransacked, there are signs that the burglary can have only been committed by someone who knows her. Then a child goes missing, yet no-one has reported it. Suddenly, events seem connected, and it’s personal.

Someone out there is playing games. It is time for both Marnie and Noah to face the truth about the creeping, chilling reaches of a troubled upbringing. Keeping quiet can be a means of survival, but the effects can be as terrible as killing.

My thoughts

Sarah Hilary stormed onto the UK crime scene just a few years ago. Now DI Marnie Rome and her sidekick DS Noah Jake feel like they have been around forever. We have taken them to our hearts. Quieter ThanKilling is book number four.

One of the highlights of this series is the twisted relationship between Marnie and her strange psychotic foster sibling Stephen. The more this is revealed, the more engrossed I become. I wish we could have more. Stephen was responsible for the death of Marnie’s parents, six years ago. He has a lovely skewed perspective.

This story is mostly about revenge and families, including those of Marnie and Noah. There appears to be a case of nasty vigilantism in the city. Three people have been badly assaulted, ending up in hospital. At the same time, a ten year old boy has been kidnapped and is being held in a house. Somehow this all links to Marnie. But how and why?

Sarah Hilary once again gives our favourites detectives a hard time. Noah has to deal with a younger erratic brother in trouble. Plus he gets himself hurt, in the action. Poor Noah. Marnie is forced to visit Stephen again, like Clarice Starling meeting Hannibal Lecter. Events conspire that she must return to the place where he committed his crimes. The home she grew up in, with all its memories.

Quieter Than Killing hits all the right notes. Chilly and chilling. Powerful and terribly sad. A social commentary on how families can be hidden places of abuse. I actually felt sorry for the killer when revealed. It looks like there will be more to come with the wonderful Stephen/Marnie storyline. The end of the book hinted at trouble to follow. Terrific. I cannot wait!